Germany: Cablers add 500,000 broadband subs

German cable network operators added around 500,000 Internet subscribers in 2017 and currently supply 7.7 million in Germany with high-speed Internet households (an increase of seven per cent). The figure represents an increase of 54 per cent in five years.

The findings were revealed by the Verband Deutscher Kabelnetzbetreiber (ANGA), the Association of German Cable Operators. Cable customers demand particularly high bandwidths. Currently, more than 40 per cent of cable Internet customers ask for connections with bandwidths between 100 and 400 MBit/s.

“With offers of several hundred Mbps and availability in 74 per cent of households, cable network operators in the broadband Internet market will remain in the fast lane in 2018,” declared ANGA President Thomas Braun. “The upcoming DOCSIS 3.1 transmission standard will significantly increase the performance of cable networks towards gigabit.”

Increasing numbers are also reported by cable network operators in the demand for telephony. Compared to the previous year, a further 400,000 households opted for this; an overall increase of six per cent over the previous year. The number of cable TV households remained largely stable at 17.6 million.

“The cable operators can be very satisfied with 2017. In the broadband market, we once again significantly increased our overall result,” concluded Braun.